Waste Management Industry Survey: Business Sector

Detailed information for 1998

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Every 2 years

Record number:

2009

This survey collects information that will help Canadians understand the contributions made by waste management industry to Canada's economy and environment.

Data release - March 31, 2000

Description

The survey provides businesses, local governments, Environment Canada and various other public and private clients with comprehensive and comparable information on waste management financial and employment characteristics. It also collects information on waste collection, disposal and recycling quantities reported by businesses that provide waste management services.

The data are also needed for the Environmental Accounting statistics of the System of National Accounts.

Waste and recycling quantity data are combined with parallel data from the Waste Management Industry Survey: Government Sector (Survey number: 1736).

Reference period: Fiscal year

Collection period: April to August after the reference period

Subjects

  • Environment
  • Pollution and waste

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The survey frame was based on information from the previous survey, supplemented and updated with information from the Statistics Canada Business Register (BR) and industry directories. Firms selected from the BR are a subset of the Waste Management and Remediation Services, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 562.

Businesses falling into the following NAICS classifications are considered to be "in scope" for the Waste Management Industry Survey: Business Sector: 56211, Waste Collection; 56221, Waste Treatment and Disposal; and 56292, Material Recovery Facilities.

Note that missing from this list of classifications is NAICS 56291, Remediation Services. While in the same NAICS grouping as the waste management industry, this industry is not included as it does not provide waste management services as defined by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.

Instrument design

The majority of the questions remain unchanged from cycle to cycle. However, a module of questions that are of specific interest to Statistics Canada is introduced on a one-time basis each cycle. Before these questions are incorporated into the final version of the questionnaire, they are reviewed internally and by industry experts external to Statistics Canada.

Sampling

This survey is a census.

This methodology does not apply.

Error detection

Many factors affect the accuracy of data produced in a survey. For example, respondents may have made errors in interpreting questions, answers may have been incorrectly entered on the questionnaires, and errors may have been introduced during the data capture or tabulation process. Every effort is made to reduce the occurrence of such errors in the survey. These efforts included: a complete verification of keyed data, validity and consistency edits, extensive follow-up with the large businesses, and consultation with selected government departments and industry associations.

Imputation

Programs written in MS FoxPro are used to impute missing financial and employment cells. Donor records are identified from valid and complete responses and missing values are imputed from these donor records. For missing waste and recyclable quantity values, historical data are used to impute for the current cycle. Where no historical data exist or they are incomplete, administrative data obtained from provincial/territorial and other sources are used.

Estimation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any data which would divulge information obtained under the Statistics Act that relates to any identifiable person, business or organization without the prior knowledge or the consent in writing of that person, business or organization. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Two stages of disclosure control are used. MS FoxPro programs specifically written to identify cells that may contain confidential data are run against the cross tabulations. A decision is then made whether to suppress cells or to aggregate cells to avoid disclosure. The second step is an intensive peer review of all tabular data prior to publication. This manual verification ensures that both inter and intra tabular comparisons cannot be made that may lead to disclosure of confidential data.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology does not apply to this survey.

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